Number of overseas trips to Ireland up 6.9 pct in Q1

DUBLIN, April 26 (Xinhua) -- A total number of 1.92 million overseas trips were made to Ireland in the first quarter of this year, up 6.9 percent compared with the same period last year, according to the Irish national statistics bureau on Thursday.

Britain ranked in the first place in terms of the number of trips to Ireland with the number standing at 798,300 in the first three months of this year, followed by other European countries (678,300), the United States and Canada (331,600), and the rest of the world (112,500), said Central Statistics Bureau (CSO) of Ireland.

The number of the trips to Ireland from other European countries recorded the highest growth in the January-March period of this year with the year-on-year growth rate reaching 13.8 percent, it said.

Meanwhile, the Irish people made a total of 1.59 million overseas trips during the first quarter of this year, up 1.93 percent while compared with the corresponding period of last year, said CSO.

Tourism is a key sector of the Irish economy, which is responsible for over 4 percent of its GNP. Last year nearly ten million people visited Ireland, delivering billions of euros for the country. Enditem